Dispensing package for razor blades



Nbv. .13, 1951 R A, OLIE 2,574,568

DISPENSING PACKAGE FOR RAZOR BLADES Filed Aug. 21, 1948 v /Z 1 (K 15 Razz-7215f Patented Nov. 13, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,574,568 r n'isi i'iiv'siiyd r AoikiAGE F'oR RAZOR BLADES Robert Azdoliei Marlboro, Mass), assignor to F. J

Kirk Molding 06.; Inc., Clinton, Mass, at corporation of Massachusetts Application Aiighst 21, 1948, Serial No. 45,523

2 Claims: 1

The present invention relates to imprtivement's' in dispensing packages, andriiore particularly toa dispensing package which is particularly adapted to contain razor blades of the type em ployed with the so-called safety razor;

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a razor blade package or container which may be originally filled with a stack of blades at the factory and then sold in retail stores to a purchaser who, thereafter, may employ the container as a refillable razor blade dispenser. Thus, the present invention contemplates that the razor blade user may retain this dispenser within his possession and refill the same with a stack of fresh blades whenever the container is empty. I

Another object of this invention is to provide a razor blade container which is designed so that a stack of blades may be readily inserted as a unit into the container and thereafter be safely ejected therefrom one at a time. 7 v A further object of the present invention is to provide such a razor biadep ee and. dispenser unit which is most efficient in operation but which, at the same time, is adapted to be most inexpensively manufactured.

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a unitary razor blade package and dispenser unit which maybe iabricated of fsjingle operation, to the end that no hand assemoperations are necessary to complete the finit.

With the above and other objects in view as will hereinafter appear, the invention comprises the devices, combinations, and arrangements of parts hereinafter set forth and illustrated in the accompanying drawings of a preferred embodh rnent of the invention, from which the: several features of the invention and the advantages 'attained thereby will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 represents a top plan View of the present razor blade package and dispenser unit.

Fig. 2 represents a right-hand end view of the unitdisclosed in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 represents a sectional view of the presentunit taken substantially along the line 33 fF s. ,1. r v r Y Fig. '4 represents, on an enlarged scale, a sec"- tional View of the present unit taken substantially along the linedl of Fig. 1, and illustrating the manner in whichfthe razor blades are removed from'theunit.

pl tic material bf a molding machine in a Fig. 5 represents, on a reduced scale, a top plan view of the present unit which i illustrated as containing a stack of razor blades.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1, 2 and 3-, the present invention comprises a, substantially rec tangular shaped frame unit including opposedside members so and it which are connected together at their end portions by means of opposed end member i2 and it. Projecting inwardly from each of the side members [0 and H is an overhanging flange 14 which is provided at that end portion thereof adjacent to the end member 53 with a downwardly depending tooth element l5. As may be particularly seen in Figs. 1 and 3; the end member [2 is provided with an upstanding abutment element 16.

Suspended between the oppositely opposed end members !2 and 13 area pair of transversely spaced bridge elements ll, ii, each one of which has one of its end portions anchored upon a respective one of the end members 52 and It. As may be best seen in Fig. 1, there is disposed between the bridge elements 2', li a fulcrum tongue 98 which is secured to the spaced bridge elements ii, I"! by means of transverse webs i9, i9. In this connection, it is to be particularly noted that the webs i9, i9 are located at points which are slightly closer to the end member [2- than they are to the end member 53. Furthermore, by referring to Fig; 3, it is to be understood that each of the bridge elements ii, i. is shaped in the form of a bow or arc. It is within the contemplation of the present invention to construct the present unit "a ma terial which is elastic, to the extent; that the bridge elements H, i! will possess a certain amount of inherent resiliency. In this connection, experience has indicated that if the present unit is fabricated, for example, from a plastic material, such as cellulose acetate, the relatively thin bridge or bow elements H, I! will have a yieldability against downward pressure, while the heavy side and end members which form the frame of the present unit, will be substantially rigid.

In use, the present unit is adapted to contain a relatively large number of standard safety razor blades. A stack of such blades may be iiiserted as a unit into the container through the right-hand end portion thereof, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 4. In order to so insert a stack of blades within the container, it is most convenient for the operator to hold the unit in one hand, while, at the same time, depressing the right-hand end portion of the fulcrum tongue 'lfi'with'the In this latter connection, it will be readily understood that the fulcrum tongue l8 will remain rigid throughout its entire length, while the right-hand end portion thereof is depressed, for the tongue will pivot relative to the package frame about a transverse axis which passes through the webs l9, 19. With the right-hand end portion of the fulcrum tongue so depressed, the operator may then grasp a stack of razor blades 28 with his other hand and insert them endwise over the upper lip of the end member l3 and beneath each of the flanges, l4. As the stack of blades is inserted lengthwise into the unit, they will clear the depressed right-hand end portion of the fulcrum tongue l8 and thereafter, the operator may remove his thumb from the tongue and continue to insert the blade stack into the unit, so that it will be positioned in a manner as is particularly illustrated in Fig. 5.

Since substantially all types of safety razor blades are provided with a longitudinally disposed slot, herein designated by the numeral it, the present unit is designed so that when a stack of blades is positioned within the unit, the opposite end portions of the fulcrum tongue is will be received within the slot, thereby to prevent the sharpened side portions of the razor blades from engaging the side portions l and Ii of the container unit. It is to be noted that as the leading edge of the stack of blades 28 being inserted engages the left-hand portion of the tongue 8, to depress the same, the right-hand tongue portion will be swung upwardly into the aligned blade slots 2! to guide the blades centrally of the dispenser, as the insertion of the stack is completed.

It is also to be understood that the inherently resilient bridge members IT, I! will be flattened downwardly whenever the blades are positioned within the unit and thus, the bridges will function to bias the blades upwardly against the underside portions of the flanges l4, 14. Referring particularly to Fig. 5, it will be understood that with the stack of blades so positioned within the unit, it is impossible for anyone to touch the sharpened side portions of the blades, for they are disposed directly beneath the overhanging flanges l4, l4 and within the confines of the side members It and it.

With the stack of blades positioned in a manner as disclosed in Fig. 5, it is impossible for any of the blades to be jolted, or otherwise inadvertently removed from the package by endwise withdrawal. In this latter connection, it is to be understood that the downwardly depending teeth l5, l5 which are provided on each of the flanges l4, I4, are adapted to engage the righthand shoulder portions of the razor blades, While the upwardly projecting abutment member l6 engages the left-hand end portions of the blades. Also, each of the opposite end portions of the fulcrum tongue l8 projects upwardly through the blade slots 2i, to the end that they would normally engage a respective one of the end portions of the slot 2 I, in the event that any of the razor blades were to be moved endwise of the unit.

In order to remove a razor blade from the present container, it is merely necessary for the operator to hold the unit in his one hand, while he pushes the thumb of that hand downwardly upon the right-hand end portion of the razor stack 4 crum tongue I8 so as to permit the right-hand end portion of the top razor blade to pass over the tongue.

Also, by so depressing the right-hand end portion of the razor blade stack, the right-hand end sections of the bridge pieces l'i, ll will yield downwardly, while the left-hand end portions thereof will urge the left-hand end portions of the razor blades 20 upwardly. Thus, as the operator shifts the upper blade of the stack to the left, this blade will be made to clear the abutment member IE, to the end that a single razor blade will be ejected from the unit. This abutment l6, however, is only spaced slightly below the plane which is defined by the sides of the flanges l4, [4, so that it is impossible for more than one blade to be ejected from the unit at one time. As soon as the operator removes his thumb from the upper surface of the blade stack, the fulcrum tongue [8 will assume its normal position within the razor blade slots 2|, while, at the same time, the compressed bridge elements H, I! will again tend to form their normal arc, thereby to urge the central portions of the blades upwardly toward the flanges l4, I.

From the above, it will be apparent that the present invention not only provides a razor blade package or container in which stacks of razor blades may be sold over the counter, but, at the same time, it provides a safe and efiicient razor blade dispenser which may be refilled by the user whenever the last blade has been removed from the unit. However, in this latter connection, it should be noted that the present unit is so designed that it may be most economically manufactured, to the end that the user could well afiord to discard the container once the original charge of blades has been exhausted. In other words, even though the present container may be readily refilled by the user, it is, at the same time, so inexpensive of manufacture that the razor blade makers could well afford to sell all their razor blades in such packages without appreciably increasing the cost of the blades.

An inspection of Figs. 1, 2 and 3 will show one skilled in the art that the present container unit is particularly adapted to be machine molded in a single operation, for the present unit is provided with absolutely no undercuts and thus, simple dies could be used in its manufacture. Furthermore, once the unit has been formed in a molding machine, no further operations are necessary to complete the unit, with the exception of removing the molding sprue or runner from an outside portion of the unit.

I claim:

1. A dispensing package for razor blades comprising, a substantially rectangular shaped frame having a pair of opposed longitudinally extending side members and a pair of opposed transversely extending end members, a flange extending inwardly from an upper portion of each of said side members thereby to form a channel, a stack of razor blades positioned within said channel, with the under surfaces of said flanges defining a plane which is spaced above a first one of said end members a distance substantially greater than the thickness of at least two blades so as to define between said first end member and said flanges an opening for receiving said stack of blades, a tooth depending downwardly from that end portion of each of said flanges adjacent to said first end member for engaging the end portions of said blades once they have been positioned within the confines of said container thereby to prevent any rectrograde movement of said blades, an abutment member extending upwardly from a second one of said end members so as to be spaced below the plane defined by the under surfaces of said flanges a distance not exceeding the thickness of a single blade thereby to define between said abutment member and said flanges a blade egress opening, and an inherently resilient portion formed integrally with said frame and normally biased toward said plane thereby to urge said stack of blades toward and against the under surfaces of said flanges.

2. A dispensin package for razor blades comprising, a substantially rectangular frame having a pair of opposed longitudinally extending side members and a pair of opposed transversely extending end members, a flange extending inwardly from an upper portion of each of said side members to form a channel open along its middle, a stack of razor blades positioned within said channel, and having aligned slots extending lengthwise of the channel, with the undersurfaces of said flanges spaced above one of said end members a distance greater than the thickness of at least two blades, so as to define an opening for receiving a stack of blades endwise, an abutment member extending upwardly from the other end member and being spaced from the adjacent end portions of said flanges a distance sufficient to just permit the passage of a single razor blade therebetween, and a blade-locking tongue yieldingly mounted between said side members of the frame and extending longitudinally of said channel so as to be received within the aligned slots of said stack of blades as positioned within said channel, said locking tongue being depressible at one end to permit a stack of blades to be inserted within the package through the opening at one end of said channel, as well as being depressible at its opposite end to permit a single blade to be ejected from the package through the opening at the opposite end of said channel.

ROBERT A. JOLIE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,040,051 Swihart Oct. 1, 1912 1,103,977 Marx July 21, 1914 1,109,795 Semmelhack Sept. 8, 1914 1,466,729 Riley Sept. 4, 1923 1,834,284 Kylberg Dec. 1, 1931 1,909,919 Testi May 16, 1933 2,352,113 Muros June 20, 1944 2,363,908 Stampelman Nov. 28, 1944 2,410,311 Steinbach Oct. 29, 1946 2,411,669 Roberts Nov. 26, 1946 

